NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 1 How, When and Where

Class 8 History Chapter 1 How, When and Where InText Questions and Answers

Activity (Page 1)

Question 1.
Look carefully at Fig. 1 (Textbook) and write a paragraph explaining how this image projects an imperial perception.
Answer:
In Fig. 1 the artist is trying to show that the Brahmins (who were supposed to be the savior of Indian culture) are handing over their charge to the British to take care of India and its people. The picture projects the British as victorious.

Activity (Page 3)
Question 1.
Interview your mother or another member of your family to find out about their life. Now divide their life into different periods and list out the significant events in each period. Explain the basis of your periodization.
Answer:
Son: Mom, when were you born?
Mother: I was born 40 years ago from now. It was the year 1968.
Son: Mausi once told me that you were a very good student during your school days. Tell me some¬thing about your school days.
Mother: O.K When I was five years old, I was admitted to a nearby school. Those days not many girl students came to school. Girls were traditionally supposed to learn “ and do household works, especially in villages. But, your Nanaji always encouraged me to study.
Son: O.K. Did Nanaji use to teach you as my father does?
Mother: Yes, of course, whenever he was free, he taught me Hindi poems. He used to tell me stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. He had a good knowledge of Mathematics.
Son: So, when did you pass your matriculation (10th class).
Mother: My son, the school in my village was only upto class VIII. I passed class VIII with the second position in the
Son: So, after eighth, you dropped your study.
Mother: No, not exactly. At that time I was 13 years old. There was a secondary school in another village. The school was about 20 km. away from my village. So, your Nanaji decided not to send me to that school. My mother taught me various household works.
Son: Then, what happened?
Mother: When I was 18 years old and passed my matriculation and 12th class. I was married to your Papa. With him, I came to the town.
Son: Did Papa allow you to go to study?
Mother: Yes, your papa has been very supportive. He brought books for me. I used to study at home.
Son: So, you are 12th passed.
Mother: No son, I am a graduate. In the course of time, I got admitted to a college and passed my graduation. Then I joined B.Ed Course. Ask your teacher, she is also a B.Ed.
Son: Oh! Now I understand that why you joined the teaching profession.
Mother: Yes my son, then I joined a school as a teacher. After two years, you were born. So, for your proper care, I decided to resign. When you were admitted to LKG only then once again I joined my job. Now you are in Class VIII. Do hard work and do something good in your life.
Son: Thank you Mummy for telling me this much about your life. I will try my best to fulfill your desires. The life of the mother can be divided into three periods on the following basis.

The period of school education (5 to 18 years) — During this period mother got her school education.
The period of family life — During this period mother got married, took responsibility for household works, and looked after her child.

Activity (Page 7)

Question 1.
Look at Sources 1 and 2. Do you find any differences in the nature of reporting? Explain what you observe.
Answer:
Yes, the two reports differ from each other in their nature.
In Source 1, the reporting is from a government official who is explaining the actions taken against the mutineers. This does not reveal the reasons why this situation had been reached at. This does not highlight the views of the mutineers.
On the other hand, the report in Source 2 describes why the police have staged strikes, where the strike has been staged, and how. This report is an example of neutral reporting by the media, so more realistic. This highlights the attitude of the government against the colonised.

Let’s Imagine (Page 8)

Question 1.
Imagine that you are a historian wanting to find out about how agriculture changed in a remote tribal area after independence. List the different ways in which you would find information on this.
Answer:
Following are some ways in which we can gather information about the change in agriculture in the remote tribal area :

We can gather reports from the office of the collector of the concerned area.
We can gather information from journals, newspapers, magazines, etc.
We can gather information from the agriculture department of the concerned state.
We can personally go to that area and interview a few elderly people to know about the changes they have witnessed in agriculture after independence.

Class 8 History Chapter 1 How, When and Where Exercise Questions and Answers

Let’s recall

Question 1.
State whether true or false :
(a) James Mill divided Indian history into three periods

Hindu
Muslim
Christian

Answer:
True

(b) Official documents help us understand what the people of the country think.
Answer:
False

Let’s discuss

Question 2.
What is the problem with the periodization of Indian history that James Mill offers?
Answer:
Problem with the periodisation of Indian history:

It is difficult to refer to any period of history on the basis of the faith of the ruler. Many faiths co-exist at a particular time.
More so, during the Ancient period, not all the rulers followed the same faith.

Question 3.
Why did the British preserve official documents?
Answer:
British were of the opinion that to write about things and events is very important. By doing so, one gets a chance to study things and events and discuss those.

Question 4.
How will the information historians get from old newspapers be different from that found in police reports?
Answer:
The information which, the historians get from old newspapers is different from that found in police reports because of the following reasons:

Police records are true and pragmatic
Information printed in newspapers is affected by the views and thinking of the correspondents, news editors, etc.

Let’s do

Question 5.
Can you think of examples of v surveys in your world today? Think about how toy companies get information about what young people enjoy playing with or how the government finds out about the number of young people in school. What can a historian derive from such surveys?
Answer:
Surveys are done by government and private companies.

on demographic changes, employment, incomes, tastes, interests, possessions, etc.
Manually or with the use of technology.
At different places like home, schools, institutions, malls, etc.
Historians may get information about preferences, lifestyle, demographic changes, political, social, economic life, etc.